Max Mosley believes title contender Fernando Alonso should lose the 25 points
he gained for winning last month's German Grand Prix at Hockenheim in which
Ferrari controversially asked team-mate Felipe Massa to stand aside for him.

Outspoken: Former FIA president Max Mosley believes both Ferrari's drivers should be docked points for the team orders fiasco at the German GP last monthPhoto: EPA

The incident, a clear breach of the 'team orders’ ban introduced in 2002, saw the Italian team fined $100,000 on the spot — the maximum allowed by race stewards — while the case was referred to the FIA’s World Motor Sport Council for further consideration under Article 151c of its sporting code, which deals with disrepute charges.

The WMSC meets in Paris on Wednesday Sept 8, four days prior to the Italian Grand Prix at Monza, and former FIA president Mosley believes the body should risk provoking uproar among the tifosi, Ferrari’s diehard fans, by meting out far more punitive sanctions despite growing support within the paddock for scrapping the rule altogether.

“Most teams are in favour of the ban being lifted,” Mosley conceded. “But if one wants to fulfil the needs of the audience, then one must maintain the ban. In the event that it is brought into play by a team, we have to impose a severe punishment.

“Both cars and both drivers should lose the points they achieved in the German Grand Prix.”

Mosley still sits on the FIA’s Senate and his influence within an organisation he presided over for 16 years until standing down last autumn is clearly still far-reaching.

However, the 70 year-old said he would not be having a quiet word with the man he cherry-picked as his successor, former Ferrari team principal Jean Todt, or any of the council members.

“I will not make any recommendation, but on the facts at the moment there should have been some sporting sanction and not only a fine.”

Todt is expected to stay away from the WMSC hearing altogether in an effort to avoid accusations of partisanship one way or another.

Alonso trails Red Bull’s championship leader Mark Webber by 20 points in the standings, a gap the Spaniard will hope to eat into at Spa this weekend.

After three weeks off, during which every team was forced to close its factory doors for a fortnight, battle will be rejoined in the Ardennes with the title battle intriguingly poised; the top five drivers, including McLaren’s two Britons Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button, are all within a single victory of each other.

As the sport awakened from its summer slumber on Monday, it was met by a fresh boost in the shape of investment from Swiss financial services company UBS, announced as a new global partner despite the gloomy prognosis for F1 sponsorship in general.

Oswald Grubel, UBS Group chief executive, said: “UBS has been searching for a global sponsorship platform that has appeal to our clients, promotes our brand globally and makes good commercial sense.

“Our new partnership with one of the largest and most popular sporting organisations in the world will fulfil all these criteria, and it constitutes a key element of our newly launched branding activities.

The global reach of F1 complements the many local activities we support.”